In such arrangements of the front axle, it often happens that during driving over obstacles, for example curbs, or during front-loading operations, a sudden, large torque is transmitted from the front wheels onto the axle and from same in turn onto the bearing plate of the pivot pin, which bearing plate is secured to the crankcase housing. Therefore, it was necessary in known arrangements to use a crankcase housing which for this purpose was especially reinforced or very large support surfaces for the bearing plate in order to prevent a breaking out of a screwed-on part on the bearing plate from the housing of the driving engine. Such arrangements are, however, disadvantageous. On the one hand a reinforcement or stiffening of the crankcase housing requires practically a special type of driving engine and on the other hand the mounting of large support surfaces on a driving engine encounters particularly great difficulties with respect to manufacture and structure.
The purpose of the present invention is to avoid these disadvantages and to produce a suspension for the front axle of the vehicle, which prevents a transmission of torques onto the bearing part which carries the front axle on the machine and requires only very small support surfaces on the front wall of the driving engine. This purpose is inventively attained by supporting one end of the pivot pin in a bearing plate secured to the driving engine or on a front wall of the driving engine, which front wall extends behind the bearing plate and a front member being positioned on the other end of the pivot pin, to which in turn are secured the ends of at least two rod-shaped transmitting members, each of which extends through a guide bore in the bearing plate and is rigidly connected at the other end with a vehicle-fixed bearing projection. Due to this inventive type of axle support, it is possible to use, for driving the vehicle, internal combustion engines having a weaker housing (for example small-volume passenger car diesel motors), because from the front axle onto the crankcase housing, torques are not transmitted but instead only pushing forces which are absorbed without any difficulties by the fastening screws of the bearing plate on the housing of the driving engine. The pull and/or pressure forces which occur for example during a coupling of a tractor wagon to a coupling element on the front plate can also be diverted entirely or partly through the transmitting members, so that also in the case of weaker housing constructions said forces can be absorbed without any difficulties. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the transmitting members are constructed as round rods and the front member as a front plate, so that through screw threads at the ends of the round rods their connection to the front plate and the bearing projections can be carried out in a very simple manner. Furthermore, its round cross section results in a certain elasticity which is very desirous for transmitting the forces.
The vehicle-fixed anchoring of the transmitting members can be defined by the bearing projection being constructed as a projecting flange on the housing of the driving engine itself. For this purpose, it is for example possible to construct the exchangeable flywheel housing in one piece with the bearing projection. However, it is also possible that a projecting flange be formed on the housing of the vehicle gearing to define the bearing projection. Thus depending on the type of construction, it is possible to place the bearing projection, thus the anchorage point of the transmitting members on each suitable vehicle-fixed point.
According to a different embodiment of the invention, vibration damping inserts, for example hard-rubber sleeves, are inserted on the joints of the front axle suspension. This type brings about the further advantage that not only the members of the axle suspension itself, but also further elements which are secured on said members or are supported by them are body-sound-insulated. This is true for example for both the additional weights (center or front weights) which are suspended on the transmitting members, and also for fenders, attachments and others.
When driving engines are used which are fully surrounded with a casing for the purpose of sound absorption, according to a special characteristic of the invention the arrangement is made such that only the parts of the bearing plate, which parts are needed for the manufacture of the connection and the bearing projections are guided out of the casing and are sealed off against the casing.